Petrol-hunting motorists created their own fuel-consuming traffic jams yesterday. When garages re-opened after the weekend, forecourt rationing was almost universal, while some irate drivers rang the motoring organisations to report prices of up to 50p a gallon.
The AA estimated that a quarter of Britain╒s petrol stations remained closed yesterday. The extreme shortage was partially caused by motorists stocking up more than usual on Friday and Saturday, and many garages ran dry over the weekend.
The situation will only improve with fresh deliveries, and it becomes increasingly obvious that the Government╒s appeals for motorists to drive at 50 m.p.h. and stay off the roads on Sunday are inadequate.
When Mr Walker, Secretary for Trade and Industry, announced the issuing of petrol ration books he said a Sunday ban had been rejected by Britain as it had been by the majority of car-driving countries. That majority is now somewhat smaller. Switzerland, Holland, Germany, Belgium, Italy and Denmark have either introduced Sunday bans or are about to. And the threat of rationing becomes increasingly hard to ignore.
